Cowboys Season Ends In Minnesota

The Dallas Cowboys ended their 2009 campaign in Minnesota with a 34-3 loss in the NFC Divisional Playoff game. 

The Cowboys started the game with a promising display of their offense on the opening possession.  Moving the ball with ease until getting into scoring position.  Then the wheels fell off.  Throughout the first half, the Dallas offense would rack up yardage until they getting into what would normally be field goal range, then they would start moving backwards.  Tony Romo never got any protection and ended the first half with 3 fumbles.

The defense played well enough to keep the game close, and the Cowboys went into halftime down 17-3.

The Cowboys offense went from bad to worse in the 3rd quarter, the offensive line couldn’t block anyone. Fortunately, the Cowboys defense stiffened and kept Minnesota out of the end zone.

Dallas entered the 4th quarter still only 2 scores down.   No one told the Cowboys’ offensive line they were still in the game as they practically laid down and let Minnesota have free shots at quarterback Tony Romo.  Eventually, even the defense gave up and the Vikings racked up more and more points, even scoring a classless TD late in the game on a 4th down play with less than 2 minutes remaining.

The Cowboys were flat from the beginning, one has to wonder if the players were overlooking this game after the win against the Eagles.  After overcoming the hype about the December slump and the playoff win drought, the entire city seemed less excited about this game.

The Vikings, though, had plenty of hype, they still wanted redemption for the Hail Mary play of 1975, and Brett Favre has lots of reason to want revenge against the Cowboys.  They played like a team on a mission, easily dominating both sides of the ball.

Maybe the Cowboys can take something from this game. They responded to the embarrassing losses to the Eagles last season, and now they have a new embarrassment to avenge. They will have a long off-season to think about it.